**Before we begin, I would like to thank everyone for reading this! This is my first fanfiction, and hopefully I may be able to get better as time progresses! I'd like to talk about my inspirations for the story, but I'll wait until the next chapter to do so. But one of the main reasons on writing this story is because I just wanted to vent out my imagination! So here it is, chapter one! Reviews are dearly welcome! Story may seem slow right now, but it'll pick up later, I promise.
**EDIT: Realized that there was no actual bridge between this chapter and the next, so I added that. Minor tweaks that may or may not seem distinguishable. Thanks for the reviews!
Champions among Legends Chapter One: The Chronicles of the Cobalt Knight
The Institute library was mostly empty, save for a few weary champions seeking refuge in texts and a certain melancholic exile. The world of text, knowledge, and history was no match for the brutal glamour of the Fields of Justice that the Institute provided on the side. For Riven, the Exile, the library was her perfect hiding place. Nobody bothered her, nor could they find her for that matter, in this forgotten sanctuary, but there was a particular section in the library that the Exile found true stasis, a feeling she only felt during her glory days in Noxus' Army.
The Exile was in her usual aisle, browsing the shelves for a book she had never read. The librarian often kept tabs on the girl, unable to stomach the fact that another champion other than Ezreal graced this ignored library. Eventually, the Exile settled for one of the newer books that she had read numerous times before; The Chronicles of the Cobalt Knight. It was fictional story, but the Exile loved it nonetheless. She wrapped her arms around the book and pulled it close to her chest as if it was a fond baby. The physical book meant nothing to her, but she could almost feel the text inside's pulsing warmth. The Exile quickly sat on a chair and began to reminisce in the story she had held so closely to her bosom.
Time whisked by as the Exile indulged herself in the Cobalt Knight's tale; all the while she had a sincere smile on her lips, a sight that not a single summoner ever saw. There was perhaps only one person who ever saw this girl smile ever since she had died on the battlefields; the librarian.
"Reading the tales again, Riven?" The librarian asked with a smile. She was an old shrunken lady, just a minion and a half tall. Her wrinkles explored every region on her skin, but these mountainous lanes only accentuated the kindness on the woman's face. The librarian's eyes were always squinted, or perhaps she was blind and they were always closed, and maybe those tiny circle glasses were for outward appearances. Nonetheless, the librarian looked exactly the part, perhaps the institute has willed it.
Riven's eyes glanced up to meet the librarian's face, her smile soon returning to its remorseful and lost tone. "Yes. It's my favourite." The Exile hesitantly shut the book, her fingers caressing the hard cover as it gently closed.
"I can tell. I apologize that we haven't been getting any new books for you to read. No one writes these stories anymore." The librarian said remorsefully.
"It's fine." Riven shut her eye. "Nobody writes these stories because nobody believes in these fairy tales anymore" The Exile croaked.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. There are a few gentlemen out there that are still filled with the Cobalt Knight's spirit" The librarian chimed. The old lady produced a tiny step ladder from beneath Riven's chair, perhaps from nothing and climbed it to reach Riven's sitting height. "He has just not found you yet, or perhaps you do not want to find him?" The librarian pinched the Exile's cheeks intimately as grandmothers will if their granddaughters were down, but the Exile was not bothered or phased.
"Whad chu meen?"
The librarian paused, losing her grip on the Exile's thick copper cheeks. "… Perhaps it is better that you do not know." The old lady's hand returned to her side as she descended down the step ladder which magically reclined back underneath the chair as she waddled back the information kiosk. "I'm sorry I wasted your time, dear. Keep that book as a present." The librarian did not look back at the Exile who assumed she had just been dismissed from the library. She gripped the spine of the library as she held the book close to her bosoms once more and left the library. But before she left, the librarian appeared before her once more.
"Try not to read too in-depth, dear. It's a children's book. It's more whimsical if you don't."
The Exile nodded in reply.
"Good. Now be off. Being in this library does ill for your skin." The librarian chuckled as it waddled back to her desk once more.
Riven was a very isolated woman, not because she was hated or anything. If anyone hated her, it would be herself. The Exile hastily made way to her chambers, avoiding any summoners or champions that wished to engage in conversation; there was always that one person that thought she was a heroine in a galge. She collapsed on her bed as she pushed her gift above her, a bit in disbelief that it was given to her for free. She pushed the book high in the air to see its physical form in all its glory.
The Exile pulled herself up into an upright sitting position with the book on her lap. She stamped her feet at the side of her bed and a dim white light began to paint the surface of her chambers a faded hue. The silver haired Exile opened book letting the familiar text bask under the enchanting light.
As the Exile's fingers brushed the edges of the page she teased herself from seeing images and words that her mind has already engraved into memory. With each flip of the page, a plethora of text seemed to leap into her vision, like a Rengar prowling from a bush to slay a mortally wounded Teemo with a bounty.
Soon, the Exile reached her favourite part. Now that she was alone in her room, and possibly away from prying eyes and ears, the eased aura compelled her to read the passage aloud.
"For the King!" The Exile monotonously cheered as her eyes dragged across the golden tinted page. "The Crimson Knight roared with his blade thrust high and hurled himself towards the fiendish Blood Assassin. Engaged in a waltz to the death with the clashing of blades as their tune, the Knight and Assassin fought for hours, both proved powerful and unrelenting. Waves of sparks flew from each clash, further igniting their fervor." The Exile paused, admiring the spectacle of azure and scarlet ink that masterfully formed to create a chivalrous blue knight and a crude red assassin. She turned the page.
"But the display of might did not last forever. The Cobalt Knight managed to out maneuver the Assassin, finding the perfect chink in her deadly swordplay, and lunged for it. Off guard, the Assassin managed to block the blow, but in return the Cobalt Knight began twirling his blade around him becoming a makeshift cyclone. Overwhelmed by the twirling display of power, the Assassin succumbed to defeat."
"The Assassin lowered her head in shame, expecting the Cobalt Knight's justice to claim her head, but there was no response. Dumbfounded, the Assassin asked why. 'I admire your ability. A person of your caliber should not be weighed by death, only convictions.' He said calmly, but the Assassin still failed to see his way. 'Then I will kill again.' The Assassin spat, attempting to mock this kind judgment, but the Cobalt Knight remained undeterred and stubborn. 'Then I will stop you again.' The Assassin looked at the knight once more with her brows tilted and blinked away." The Exile, when she read it first, too had the same expression the Crimson Assassin held when she was given mercy, but the Exile knew full well why and she relished the reason. She turned the page, revealing a very drafted image of the Cobalt Knight decorated with white and golden ink. The person itself was quite familiar, but the repeated strokes of black ink obscured the figure.
"A soldier approached the Cobalt Knight, astonished by his mercy. 'Why did you let that criminal escape, sir?' The soldier asked. 'I'd like to believe everyone is good, but that simply isn't true. But one day I hope that everyone will turn to the right side, and I will not let death deny them that right." The Cobalt Knight pushed his blade into the ground to help support him upright. 'You may think me childish, but I believe that is the proper way for…" Riven paused, almost betraying Noxus for a moment. During this instance of the story she began to role play as the Cobalt Knight, but she could not completely get into the Cobalt Knight's shoes for he served Demacia. "…for Noxus to prosper." She felt a tang of betrayal to her idol, but even then she could not bring herself to betray Noxus again.
Riven recoiled away from the book, shutting it close in the process, as she pressed her eyelids together. Memories began to fill her mind and she could feel herself being surrounded in a thick itchy fog. The fog crawled into her skin, begging for alleviation to the point where she wanted to rip her flesh off. Her fingers spasmed as her arms desperately tried to control her body. She bit down on her lip, hoping that the pain would stab her conscious, but it found no retribution. Her fingers began to dig into what flesh it crawled onto, hoping that her mind would drag, but like her now bleeding lips, proved to be useless.
"What is broken can be reforge." These words rang in her head, swiftly calming her mind almost to the point of losing it. Her being of self began to fade; she was being summoned. She touched her lips. The blood has dried and disappeared. Was this state of madness just a hallucination of the mind? She clenched her hand into a fist to reveal the whites on her knuckles. It doesn't matter, but she could no longer afford to purchase more into her painful regrets.
Instinctively, Riven headed towards the summoning platform where her summoner beckoned for her services. The Exile, although, still had moderate control of her body, and favoured the loner's path attempting to avoid the more diluted hallways. But just as she thought she wouldn't find someone...
"Ah!" Riven fell back, tossing the book she had forgotten she held clutched in her possession to the side. "I-I'm sorry." She mumbled as her mind was a bit in a daze. Her attention lied in her mistake in absentmindedly bringing this children's book. Her fingers fumbled as it attempt to shield the cover, but the person she collided to had already seen its content; and it just happened to be her...
"Riven? No no no! It's fine!" The blonde scrambled onto her feet, exposing the intricate colours of pale gray and bright sun trims. It was Lux, some of the last people she wanted to run into. "I actually came to pick you up. We'll be on the same sides of the Field this time." Now she was on her team. Her mind what just in shambles and now she'd have to fend off one of the happiest girl in the League. The Lady of Luminosity offered her hand to help the Exile up but what was returned was a gentle push away. But the Lady was not the kind of girl that would stay kindly being left in the dust. Despite faction rivalry, the Lady sincerely wanted to befriend everyone. Her eyes darted around, surveilling for anything that could be used for small talk.
That torch on the wall? No... she already used that.
How about the weather? No, it was crap.
C'mon, Lux... There's gotta be a good conversational piece somewhere! Finally, her eyes nested on a book covered by leather dyed blue with yellow trims. Her eyes widen. She had never imagined the Exile to read, especially to read this tale. "That book..."
Riven's heart and her being had leapt. Did she see what it was? She quickly stashed the in the back of her waist where it lay snug between her spine and her leather cincher. She dismissed Lux's words and began to head towards the summoning platform, but Lux would not let her go alone.
Lux continued, despite Riven's attempt to ignore. "Ya' know, I've read that book too. It was a pretty nice change of pace." No response. The two continued down the ever expanding hallways. The length of passage just seeming to increase with each failed conversation. "Uh... well... a friend of the family wrote that book, actually!" The Exile's brows rose, slightly intrigued, but she couldn't let Lux know that, but she knew.
"I-is that so?" A slip of the tongue, Riven had just exposed the hook in her mouth. Lux did not hesitate to reel her in.
"Yes! In fact, I helped write a bit of the stories!" Lux moved in closer to Riven's side almost a finger length away. "Let's see... um. I wrote the beginning! T-that's all I know that made it in, ha ha."
Riven seemed to have realized what she had just called upon herself. She only wished that she remained quiet, but she couldn't ignore Lux's comments. Despite trailing away from Lux as much as possible, for once she enjoyed someone else's company. She even giggled, despite squishing it between pressed lips.
"But you know... its really weird writing a story about Garen." Lux sighed, unknowingly shocking Riven's recovering mind.
"... What?" Riven's whispered, her voice trembling slightly.
"Huh? What do you mean, 'what?' You didn't know? Who else stalks the bush like Rengar?"
Riven's head felt the pressure of obvious truth condemning the denial that once shielded her mind. But her heart began to increase in weight. She could feel her chest drag as it continued to conflict with the sudden revelations.
"I-is there something wrong?" Lux asked in perhaps the most sincere way possible. The Lady of Luminosity almost regretted talking to the Exile if it would conflict her this much. This girl was too kind for her own good. "I-I'm sorry I said anything. L-let's hurry." Lux never said anything after that. She knew that if a Noxus such as the Exile marvelled at the glory of a Demacian hero would mean heresy. For someone like Riven who is already torn apart by her beliefs, to only add more to the scales that was ripping her will apart, Lux felt like there were no apologies suitable to say. The two remained quiet for the remainder of the trip and would not speak to each other during the match and after.
There was no way Garen could be the Cobalt Knight. The Cobalt Knight, in the Exile's heart, was a Noxian. Denial at it's finest.